Announcing the Second Annual GeekAThon Winners!

Taylor Conger

Sponsored By

Every day we are seeing new and existing technologies revolutionize every industry as more devices become connected to the Internet. Smart devices, otherwise called IoT, have become one of the fastest-growing markets in technology. With connected vehicles, home appliances, wearable fitness devices that track our activities, and tracking devices to detect our location, IoT technology is fast becoming part of everyday life. At ODTUG Kscope17, each attendee received abeacon attached to the back of his or her name badge, and ODTUG used this new technology to count session and conference attendance as well as identify exhibit hall hot spots throughout the week. These beacons used Bluetooth low energy (BLE) technology that sent signals to receivers located in the session rooms and exhibit hall.

ODTUG decided to repurpose the beacons from ODTUG Kscope17 by hosting the second annual ODTUG GeekAThon! The challenge was simple: Use at least one beacon and its BLE signal to solve any problem in a meaningful way, be it personal, business, environmental, or otherwise. A panel of judges chose three winners based on a number of criteria ranging from creativity and innovation to purpose and documentation. Today, we are proud to announce the three winners! Congratulations!

First-Place Winner: Team Blaine Carter

Blaine Carter won this year's GeekAThon with his submission, AlexGuard! The judges wanted to highlight why they chose his submission as the winner, as there were some similarities between his submission and last year’s winner. The main thing we want to emphasize is that this project incorporates why we do this contest. From the relatively simple purpose of “why?” to the complete documentation, this could be repurposed for a wide variety of situations. The videos are a quick way of experiencing what is happening, then going more in-depth on how the project is actually performing behind the scenes. The code for the project is published on Github, allowing anyone to view, download it, and try it out for themselves. Sharing is caring, and the GeekAThon is all about inspiring people to build upon these projects.

Team Members: Blaine and Alex Carter

Problem:

"My son Alex attends a school where the students have some ‘bonus features,’ or as the school puts it: “Educating Exceptional People." There are some students at Alex’s school who tend to wander away. There are commercial systems available that can notify the administration and/or lock doors when the beacon they are wearing is detected in a hazardous zone, such as leaving the school. The problem is, those systems can be expensive."

Solution: AlexGuard

Here is the video that Blaine Carter and Alex Carter made documenting the solution process for AlexGuard. Click here to view a copy of the code. To view Blaine's full solution document outlining the hardware and software used, installation process, future improvements, and challenges, click here to download the PDF.

Second-Place Winner: Team Father and Son

Team Father and Son consists of Dick Dral and his 21-year-old son Michiel, who is an aspiring but experienced programmer. Together, they used beacon technology to create Morpheus.

Team Members: Dick and Michiel Dral

Problem:

"The average smartphone user has 80-100 apps installed on his phone and uses about 30 monthly. This means many of the apps are not on the home screen. Dick has about 250 apps installed on his phone. This results in a lot of searching or swiping to find the right app. Yet, the need to use apps is, in many cases, bound to a certain location. The parking app, navigation, or fuel usage registration will be used in the car, while mail, calendar, and business administration will be of use in the office. In the living room, I enjoy watching Netflix, listening to Spotify or reading an e-book."

Solution: Morpheus

"Morpheus offers an app menu based on the user and the location. This way, in every situation you have the apps you need at hand. Morpheus determines the location by detection iBeacon signals. By placing iBeacons in relevant locations and registering those iBeacons to these locations, Morpheus is able to present relevant menus in each situation (=location)."

Here is a video demonstration of Morpheus.Click here to view their documentation and learn how they went about creating this concept. To view Team Father and Son's full solution document outlining the architecture of the app, technology used, and images of the Morpheus application, click here to download the PDF.

Third-Place Winner: Team DBAKevlar

Team Members: Kellyn, Sam, and Joshua

Problem:

"Separation from a pet due to work or while traveling can be difficult. While separation anxiety is recognized in pets, it can also be something the pet owner goes through when away from their beloved pet. This GeekAThon project aims to solve some of this by utilizing the ODTUG Kscope17 beacon and a few inexpensive components and code to help!"

Track your pet's movements inside your home, learn their routines and even their obsessive behaviors, (even the ones you may have tried to break!) When they come into proximity of the Pet Station, be notified and interact with them using video and sound via your mobile device. No longer will you have to go to pet stores to get your pet fix while on the road. Get the real thing and have puppy dates even while on the road with your very own Pet Station."

Solution: The Pet Discoverer

Here is the video demonstration of The Pet Discoverer. Click hereto view a copy of the code used to create this project. To view Team DBAKevlar's full solution document outlining the hardware used, required components, and other details, click here to download the PDF.

Once again, the GeekAThon judges and everyone at ODTUG congratulate all of the winners for their hard work! We look forward to next year's ideas!